How do I know if I'm eating too much?

How do I know if I'm eating too much?

Susan Silberstein & Marilyn Joyce (Health and Nutrition Educator & Heath Counselor) gives expert video advice on: How do I know if I'm eating too much?

The unfortunate thing in our culture is that people have lost their satiety signal. That's the signal that says, "I've had enough." So, it's a tough one to really answer. What we do know is that the average American is eating probably about four times more than they need in a day. They're eating way too much. The average person, probably the average woman, say 25 years old, 5'6", probably needs about 1800 calories a day to be healthy. The average woman is probably eating three to four times that. So, how do you know you are eating too much? If you are eating a lot of simple carbohydrates and unhealthy fats such as in the shakes at the local drive thru or the hamburgers and French fries with the cheese (that fake stuff that's not even real cheese; it doesn't even really melt properly), you are probably eating way to many calories. The key is that if you are eating a really wholesome diet, it is hard to eat more than you need because that's when you will start to feel full naturally; just from the high complex carbohydrates and fibre content. Those fill you up, and you feel full sooner. The other key is to eat more slowly. If you gobble your food down, you don't feel full until you are well past satiety or the fullness feeling. However, if you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly you will feel that fullness sooner, and you will feel more satisfied earlier.